Wednesday, January 28, 2009

This was on Hollywood T.V.com today as well as a similar article on Contactmusic.com.Christina Aguilera is set to shock guests visiting her new Beverly Hills pad - if artistic husband Jordan Bratman gets his way. The record label executive was spotted checking out shock artist Cleon Peterson's latest show at the New Image Art gallery in West Hollywood on Monday - with a view to filling the home he and his pop star wife bought from The Osbournes with images of rape, mugging and brutality. One gallery regular who witnessed Bratman's art interest says, "It was clear he was there to check out Peterson's The Occupation exhibition, which opened last week.

"The artist's pieces look colorful and interesting from a distance, and closer inspection shows scenes of street violence. It's quite disturbing. "He left the gallery without buying anything, but you could tell he was very interested. Maybe Christina will have to OK his strange choice in art before he buys."

Sunday, January 25, 2009

Liz Young Video of her performance here Bast!!!!!!! Cheryl Dunn Date Farmers Chris Johanson Artist-- Chris Johanson in good form! 3 Phil Frost Paintings all in a row. Beautiful Naheed!!! Eastside Girls Veronica and Marcella poured the wine all night! NO AGE !!!! NIA early supporters and collectors DV and Artie Nelson.

Caroline Hwang and Saelee Oh shine on. Shane and Our Favorite MILF Tara!!! Designer/artist Rory and innovative fashion designer Kristen have been at our openings longer than almost anyone!!! I think they started visiting when they were in Jr High!

Sir Neck doing his thing. All night long both galleries this mobbed! Ed took this one of Marsea And Deanna and that is green gum.

Chris Johanson's Explosion sold to an Australian Collector. Chris Johanson one of the best of the best came down from Portland with Jo Jackson and Raisin for the Party!!!We will be around the gallery on Monday Jan 26th in the afternoon.Please call the gallery 323 654 2192 if you want to see the showMonday or Tuesday.Wednesday - Saturday we are open 1-6 or later....

Much Thanks to all of you for coming out and supporting the gallery and our artists.No Age first show ever was at New Image Art. Did they rock the house or what??Also DJ Alf Alpha killed it. Right...We might have a closing party so stay tuned.

Monday, January 19, 2009

Rich Jacobs is a person who changed my life many years ago. He turned me on to MOVE a group of artists he first curated about ten or so years ago. Soon after his first MOVE show he started

curating MOVE at New Image. Rich and his friends are building a replica of the original

New Image Art when it was upstairs and a 10 by 10 foot room. We had many amazing times

up there!!!! The lines would wind around the block to get in!!!! You could never see the art at the opening or maybe if you came early.

There was a guy who took the bus from his mental institution for a night to

make our openings! No Lie!!! Does anyone remember DWAVID??? He was the guy dressed in a white gown with the long white beard and turban who later turned into Alice Cooper!!!!

I don't think Dwavid will be there but JR hopes to make it.

Anyway to get back on track here.. Rich will be driving down from SF and will be installing

all week.

Judith Supine is making an 18 foot high 16 foot wide kinetic sculpture, Ed and Deanna are each doing photographic installations,Jose Parla is sending a piece and Shepard's piece is off the hook also a beautiful Eddie Martinez just came in....

Friday, January 16, 2009

"I have always had a brutal sadistic perspective and for some reason my sense of humor usually ends up taking things to an uncomfortable place. I am always drawn to narratives that evoke a sinister or devious side of culture, the tragic movies where everyone dies or where the hero winds up ordinary. I think there is a truth everyone can relate to in feelings of struggle, desperation, pain and failure. The grey area between the dualistic nature of authority in our world is where these paintings live."

Cleon Peterson is an LA based artist whose chaotic and violent paintings show clashing figures symbolizing a struggle between power and submission in the fluctuating architecture of contemporary society.

Peterson's work is best described as stop motion animation meets a finely rendered renaissance cartoon. The subject matter is intense, a slow motion brawl where no one wins or loses: it just goes on and on like a bad marriage. The work brings to mind the art of Chicago – based artist Henry Darger, Where Darger's work is marked by the mystery of a fantasy gone terribly wring, Peterson's bold intentions immediately draw the viewer in. There is no mystery or ironic twist. All the pain and suffering is up front, undisguised.

The work portrays a view of our modern world, with all of its wrongs and injustices. The movie in Peterson's mind plays out in ultra-violent scenes he captures in his paintings.

Each square wood panel adjacent to the other panels forms a larger perfect grid of different violent scenarios. The sophistication of this work is drawn from Peterson's innate knowledge of design and composition. He started as a skateboard designer after leaving his native Seattle for San Diego where he worked for Toy Machine and BLK/MRKT (Shepard Fairey and Kinsey's design company). The works seems to reflect German expressionism while capturing the overlapping imagery of The Italian Renaissance painter Paolo Uccello and the complicated figuration of the mid evil artist Bruegel's sick caricatures.

Cleon's paintings are monochromatic while channeling at the same time the fashion sensibility of the early 80's, complete with skinny ties and day glow colors.

Cleon received his MFA from the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Detroit, MI and a BFA in Graphic Design at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena.

The past decade and half of New Image Art has been a wild ride! It has been the greatest honor to be able to work with and know many of our artists and gallery supporters. All the unknowns, underdogs, avant-gurardians, newbies, bad-asses, and geniuses; all of them a part of the very fabric that makes up New Image Art.

The 15 year anniversary party will serve as a retrospective show – a show of shows if you will. Many of our artists over the past 15 years have been asked to contribute in memorializing this event by representing what it is they do best. We are striving to communicate the essence of New Image Art = ultimate creativity, this is everyone’s party!!

We will be showing videos and slide presentations and inviting our favorite past musical guests for live performances, dancing, and an all around good time.

“New Image Art is a freaky-magical place. I walked in the door over nine years ago and immediately knew that whoever ran the show had a microscope aimed at my brain, because the walls were covered with even wilder versions of my dreams. The artists whose work I’ve come to know through New Image are some of the only voices I trust. I see them everywhere I go now, but I saw them at New Image first. You want a reason to love Los Angeles? It’s right here.”– Dave White, author of Exile in Guyville

Marsea Goldberg, founder and director of LA’s New Image Art, started the gallery in 1994 in her 10x10 design studio. Since then, the gallery has grown to attract a global cult following, grabbing the interest of art lovers and collectors worldwide. Renowned for her discriminating eye and solid curatorial skills, New Image Art Gallery continues to show the works of established and emerging artists coming out of the street, skate, fine art, and surf scenes. Over the years, the gallery has launched or mobilized the careers of Shepard Fairey, Ed Templeton, Jo Jackson, Chris Johanson, Rich Jacobs, Rebecca Westcott, Neckface, Cleon Peterson, Megan Whitmarsh, Faile, Tauba Auerbach, Matt Leines, the Date Farmers, and Bäst just to name a few.The gallery has been featured in virtually dozens upon dozens of magazines and newspapers internationally.

Saturday, January 3, 2009

Here is the million dollar question---How did our very own amazing Megan Whitmarshend up being blogged about by Kanye West??? We know Kanye is into art -- after all he collaborated on Takashi Murakami's animation and performed at his MOCA opening last year but how did he find Megan's art??? Let's hope he shows up at her opening next month and gets some of her Blingy Bling sculptures.

Friday, January 2, 2009

Cleon's been working hard designing variations of our anniversary card for us on this show. Here's the latest version using a photo Marsea snapped last weekend in the desert. It's going to be a killer event so mark your calendars! We are working on tee shirts and a poster also.Also working on a musical line up.

OOOOPSEEEE!!!! We forgot a few names that we will be adding to the card. Luckilyit has not gone to print yet. Here are the names we left off that will be in the show Thomas Campbell, Bast, Antonio Diaz, Sean Cassidy

We are very excited to be showing Cleon Peterson's work this month. It is his first solo show.I met Cleon while he was working for Shepard Fairey when Shepard was living and working in San Diego. Shepard had his first LA show here around ten years ago. Cleon was one of the artists featured in the Art of BLKMRKT along with Misha (Perks) in the other gallery room at that time.Perks will be showing with Mini as the duo PAM. They are currently living back in their native Australia. This show will be running alongside our 15 Year Anniversary Show which will be in the brand new space next door.

A really cool person from the mid- west just called the gallery and wants books and product at the party so we are listening to him and getting it together to have some tee shirts and posterscommemorating this huge event! The Book is in the works but that and our new web sight seem to be dragging on forever!!! Actually the book is getting there!